Council officers predict Coventry will take an estimated 53 children - partly as a result of the dismantlement of the ‘Calais Jungle’ refugee camp on the French border.

Numbers in the report show the council receives grants of £37,000 per child from central government but is left with costs of around £10,000 per child - which will cost the local authority £530,000.

However, the actual figure could be much higher with the council acknowledging that a shortage in foster carers means more expensive placements are sometimes required - such as residential care homes that can cost in excess of £150,000-a-year per child.

According to the council’s estimates, the eventual total taxpayer bill for rehousing Syrian children in Coventry alone will be just short of £2.5m.

Syria: A man carries a child away from the scene of an airstrike in Aleppo.

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Coventry has already re-homed 25 unaccompanied Syrian refugee children, out of a total of 60 who have been allowed into the country so far. Officials now predict the city will eventually need to take a further 28 in order to meet its responsibilities under the government’s resettlement scheme.

Coventry has taken in more Syrian refugees than any other UK city, with almost 200 staying in the city out of an estimated 1,600 to have arrived in the country.

The city has pledged to be a ‘City of Sanctuary’ for refugees and, despite the mounting costs, the council appears as if it will stick to that pledge.

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Asked about the ‘City of Sanctuary’ pledge Coun Ed Ruane, cabinet member for children, said: “I don’t think we’ll be changing our mind on that. But we are aware that there are other local authorities which should be doing more.

“Central government need to lead on this. They are not providing an appropriate level of funding.”

He added: “At the moment it is a voluntary scheme and we know local authorities are reluctant to do it because their budgets are stretched already at the moment.

“It’s reliant on the goodwill of local authorities because it’s the right thing to do.

“We’re not going to let this drop. The government is saying ‘we want local authorities to do more’ we are saying we need more funding to do that.

“But what we’re not going to do is drag this process out when the bottom line is there are kids here that need protecting now.”

Coun Ruane acknowledged that there was a reluctance to accept refugees from some residents, but he said: “I have met some of these families and children.

“Whether or not this is perceived as popular, it’s the right thing to do, and that’s just the way it is.”